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November 14, 2012

U.N. Votes to Condemn U.S. Embargo on Cuba 
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The United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to condemn
the U.S. embargo against Cuba for the 21st year in a row. The final vote
was 188-to-3, with only Israel and the Pacific island state of Palau
joining the United States. U.S. envoy Ronald Godard urged fellow General
Assembly delegates to reject the measure.

Ronald Godard: "This resolution only serves to distract from the real
problems facing the Cuban people and therefore my delegation will oppose
it. We encourage this body to support the desires of the Cuban people to
determine their own future freely. By doing so it will truly advance the
principles of the United Nations charter and the purposes for which the
United Nations was created."

Speaking for the Cuban government, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno
Rodríguez called on President Obama to break from decades of U.S.
isolation of Cuba.

Bruno Rodríguez Parilla: "President Obama has an opportunity to start a
new policy towards Cuba different from the one implemented by his 10
predecessors for more than half a century. It will surely be a difficult
task and maybe he would face serious obstacles, but the President of the
United States still has the constitutional powers that would enable him
to listen to public opinion and generate the necessary dynamics by means
of executive decisions even without the approval of Congress."

Addressing the assembly on behalf of Latin American and Caribbean
states, Chilean envoy Octavio Guilisasti said overwhelming U.N.
opposition to the embargo reflects the consensus of virtually the entire
world.

Octavio Guilisasti: "We emphasize the inconsistency that exists between
the application of the unilateral measures which has no backing in
international law and the latter spirit and principles and purposes of
the charter of the United Nations. We urge the United States of America
to make the necessary adjustments to its international behavior in this
regard, aligning its legislation with the charter of the United Nations,
the resolutions of the United Nations and the views of the countries of
Latin America and the Caribbean and in general of all the regions of the
world."

 

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